Loop Capital Upgrades Griffon (NYSE:GFF) to “Strong-Buy”

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) was upgraded by Loop Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $92.00) on shares of Griffon in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Griffon from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Griffon from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $98.75.

Griffon Stock Up 1.2 %

GFF opened at $77.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 1.43. Griffon has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $86.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.17.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The conglomerate reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. Griffon had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 120.61%. Analysts anticipate that Griffon will post 5.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the conglomerate to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Griffon

In related news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 9,222 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.50, for a total value of $696,261.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,108,184. This trade represents a 18.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 5,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $415,564.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 44,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,561,316.28. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,892 shares of company stock worth $1,734,296 in the last quarter. 10.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Griffon by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,843 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $454,406,000 after acquiring an additional 177,771 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Griffon by 4.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,555,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $108,914,000 after purchasing an additional 61,210 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Griffon by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 892,124 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $63,582,000 after purchasing an additional 236,179 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Griffon by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 877,840 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $61,463,000 after buying an additional 30,264 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Griffon by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 700,351 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $49,914,000 after buying an additional 93,100 shares during the period. 73.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Griffon Company Profile

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Home and Building Products, and Consumer and Professional Products. The Home and Building Products segment manufactures and markets residential and commercial sectional garage doors, rolling steel service doors, fire doors, shutters, steel security grilles, and room dividers for the use in commercial construction and repair, and home remodeling applications.